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Six in a row. Northwestern has won six games in a row against the Indiana Hoosiers, once the class of the Big Ten in basketball. A senior at Northwestern will go their entire college career without watching their team lose to the boys in Bloomington (unless the two teams see each other in the Big Ten Tournament).
It was ugly in the first half. Northwestern gave Indiana whatever it wanted for most of the first half, and it felt like a blessing that NU was down by nine at the break. But it never got worse, and the Wildcats scratched and clawed their way back into the game, finally breaking through with about four minutes remaining and playing an impressive game in clutch minutes for the win.
Defense
The defense was a pendulum in this game. IU scored 43 points and got every shot they wanted in the first half en route to 63% shooting, but it could not buy a bucket in the second and shot just 31%. There was a lot that stuck out to me defensively in this game, but I’m going to focus in on one specific action that gave the ‘Cats fits in the first half but that they sharpened up on at halftime: the Sam Alexis short roll.
There were too many to break down individually, so I combined all of the times where Alexis abused the Northwestern defense on the same play. They came with different ball-handlers and at different spots on the floor with different Northwestern primary defenders, but they all resulted in buckets.
There are some similarities between the four plays. On all four, Alexis never comes close to setting the screen, instead ghosting into his short roll which seemed to continuously catch the Northwestern defense off-guard. Every single time, either Tyler Kropp or Arrinten Page got overextended and was completely out of position when the pass went in.
The second issue with the way it was defended was the low man on the help side. Nick Martinelli (three times) and Angelo Ciaravino are completely out of position to tag Alexis on the roll. The first two plays have Alexis rolling into the middle of the floor and immediately getting the pass. Martinelli and Ciaravino have to come from the weak side corner and just don’t get there in time, allowing an easy floater and a kick to the aforementioned corner for a triple.
Again on the empty side action, Martinelli gets there after Alexis has taken off. And on the last play, Martinelli gets into position, but when the pass doesn’t go inside immediately, he loses his discipline and Alexis comes uncovered late.
It was a different story in the second half. Northwestern seemed to be afraid of Indiana’s three-point shooting in the first, explaining all of the open space in the middle of the floor for Alexis to kill the ‘Cats. That didn’t stop IU from ripping the cords from deep the entire first frame, so NU came out of the locker room and stuffed bodies on the inside.
On this first play (which results in a bucket but on an insanely difficult shot), Martinelli helps on the ghost screen-to-short roll from the weak-side wing, and Tre Singleton comes up from the corner. The extra body pauses Alexis long enough for Page to reset himself as the primary defender.
On this possession, Page hedges hard but actually makes life difficult for Conor Enright. There’s no free entry pass, and Singleton steps in from the wing to take it away even after Enright pivots back to the strong side.
Instead of going to Alexis in a dangerous spot, the ball ends up in the hands of Tucker DeVries 30 feet from the basket. Martinelli rotates all the way across the lane from the weak corner to cover Alexis until Page gets back in the play, and from there, the defense is on a string until Ciaravino pokes it away from Lamar Wilkerson.
Offense
Northwestern was quietly still in the game at halftime thanks to a very solid offensive performance in the first half, despite some struggles from Martinelli that disappeared big-time after the median.
This was my favorite set from the game. Page, who was excellent most of the night, comes to get the ball at the top of the key, pulling what little rim protection Indiana has out of the lane. DeVries is plastered on Martinelli, and Collins knew from the first 17 minutes that Darian DeVries wasn’t going to switch his son off of Nick.
Martinelli sets a pin-down screen for Ciaravino above the break. Ciaravino curls over the top as if to get into a jumper but then slices on a 45 cut down the lane. Page uses his excellent passing skills to slide it into Ciaravino, who pump-fakes and finishes.
This was one of the most clever sets all game, and it was especially useful to put Martinelli in as a screener given the attention he draws.
Again, IU isn’t switching DeVries off Martinelli. This one is simple, but it requires Page to do something he hasn’t done very often, which is set a hard screen. He accomplishes the feat and gets blown up by DeVries in the process, who is trying to go under and meet Martinelli at the point of attack, where he expects Northwestern’s star to drive with his left hand.
Instead, DeVries stumbles and Martinelli fades to the corner with the catch, stepping back for an open shot. Even after Page falls, Alexis is too far off Martinelli to affect the shot because he was in drop coverage instead of a switch.
Coach Collins Clip of the Week
I was surprised there was not a ton from Collins given his team’s ineptitude defensively in the first half, which always sets him off. Instead, the best clip comes from a failed offensive play at the end of the first half.
Ciaravino refuses to pass to Jake West for some reason and gets the ball poked out of his hands. Collins burns his use-it-or-lose-it timeout, screams and waves his arms at his sophomore guard, aggressively signals for a timeout about ten times and then mean-mugs his way back into the huddle. What more can you ask for in terms of a coach who still cares even in a lost season?